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Rampage Killer
murderous episode in a pharmacy.]] A Spree Killer or Mass Murderer is a person who kills multiple people in a short period of time, with no cooling off period. There are only minor differences between the two terms, as detailed below. Definition The spree killer has usually become alienated from society and no longer feels any connection with the rest of humanity. They may feel that the world has come crashing down on them and that the only solution is death. They will feel that their own lives are over, and aim to take as many people with them as they can. Another type of spree killer (the so-called "classic type") is the "killer on the run", someone who commits murders or potentially deadly attacks while evading capture by the law. Examples of this type include Allan Legere, Andrew Cunanan and Florence Rey. Once their killing spree is over, subjects of this type most often either commit suicide or force law enforcement to use deadly force against them ("suicide by cop"). They prefer death over the prospect of indefinite incarceration. The mass murderer, while being nearly identical, differs in the fact that their murders will occur in one place. A spree killer may "visit" multiple locations, sometimes over the course of several days. Victimology Both types may target a certain demographic, or even specific targets. These may include fellow students who gave the subject a hard time, a college professor who gave them a bad grade, or a group of bullies. The Columbine Massacre is a perfect example. Mass murderers, specifically, may include suicide bombers and other types of terrorists who commit their murders with a single act. Alternatively, either type may commit multiple murders for no apparent reason other than the desire to kill. Modus Operandi Unlike serial killers, spree killers most often use firearms or similar weapons. Mass murderers most often use explosives, firearms, or biological weapons. Examples Spree Killer * Charles Starkweather * Howard Barton Unruh * The Zodiac Killer Mass Murderer * Charles Whitman * The Columbine Killers * Richard Speck Criminal Minds Spree Killer * Cally's Tribe ("The Tribe") * Roy Woodridge ("Distress") * Nathan Tubbs ("Doubt") * Owen Savage ("Elephant's Memory") * Norman Hill ("Normal") * Darrin Call ("Haunted") * Turner's Group ("Hopeless") * Dale Shrader ("Retaliation") * Jeremy Sayer ("Safe Haven") * Raymond Donovan and Sydney Manning ("The Thirteenth Step") * Ben Foster ("With Friends Like These...") Serial killers who devolved into spree killers include: * Mark Gregory ("Charm and Harm") * Jonny McHale ("True Night") * Connor O'Brien ("Public Enemy") * Ronald Boyd ("A Rite of Passage") * Billy Flynn ("Our Darkest Hour" and "The Longest Night") * James Thomas ("Compromising Positions") * Daniel Dryden (Killer Profile) Mass Murderer This section contains no characters. Please add some. Female Spree Killers Female spree killers are very, very rare. In Public Enemy, however, Morgan incorrectly states that spree killers, unless they are school shooters, are always middle-aged males. Documented examples include: * Brenda Spencer: On January 29, 1979, Brenda, then 16, used a .22 rifle and fired at the staff and students of an elementary school across the street on which she lived, killing two and wounding nine. She is currently serving time in a San Diego prison and has been denied parole four times.﻿ When asked why she did it, she simply said that she doesn't like Mondays and that killing "livens up the day". *Amy Bishop: Shot six colleagues, three of which died, with a 9mm handgun February 13, 2010 shortly after learning that she had been denied tenure. She was arrested and indicted for the shooting and is currently in custody. The authorities have also reopened the case of her fatally shooting her brother years earlier, an incident which previously was believed to have been an accident. *Jennifer San Marco: Killed a neighbor, then went to a mail processing plant, where she killed an additional six before shooting herself in the head on January 30, 2006. She was apparently motivated by severe paranoia and bigotry (San Marco was a known racist, and with the exception of neighbor Beverly Graham, all her victims were minorities). *Sylvia Seegrist: October 30, 1985 opened fire at a Springfield, Pennsylvania shopping mall, killing three people and wounding seven others before being disarmed by a shopper John Laufer (who mistakenly assumed Sylvia shooting to be a prank, as it was close to Halloween). The individuals killed included two men Ernest Trout & Augustus Ferrara, and a two-year-old, Recife Cosmen. She was 25 years old and had been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia 10 years earlier. See Also * School Shooter * Serial Killer * Family Annihilator Note *The most prolific spree killer in modern history is South Korean police officer Woo Bum-kon, who, after a drunken argument with his girlfriend, raided the armory at the police station where he worked, and went on a day-long rampage that ended when Woo blew himself, and several hostages he had taken, up with grenades he had strapped to himself. Woo had at least fifty-seven victims, and wounded at least thirty-five. References * The Serial Killer Files by Harold Schecter. Random House ISBN 978-0-345-46566-5 (0-345-46566-0) Category:Criminal Pathology